Many types of rooftop bicycle carriers (or racks) require the front wheel of a bicycle be removed when mounting the bicycle on the carrier. The front wheel is typically stowed in the vehicle or is secured to the rooftop carrier using a separate fixture that clamps to the wheel at its axle. As can be appreciated, the wheel may be dirty, especially if the wheel is from a mountain bike, and putting a dirty wheel in the vehicle is often undesirable. The separate wheel fixtures that mount directly to the carrier are also often undesirable because they can be expensive and take up limited rooftop space that could otherwise be used to carry additional bicycles.
Several wheel holders have been proposed to stow the front wheel while the bicycle is being transported on a rooftop carrier. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,661 of Wolfe, a bracket is disclosed that is affixed to the rear dropout of a bicycle frame. When the bicycle is placed on the rooftop carrier, the axle of the front wheel is secured into a slot provided in the bracket by tightening the wheel's quick release mechanism. The bracket has several drawbacks. First, it is not easily removable from the bicycle and is intended to remain on the bicycle adding unnecessary weight. Second, since the front wheel is supported at the axle on only one side of the axle, the stress on the axle from the weight of the wheel and wind resistance during transport could cause damage to the axle and the wheel's hub.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,119 of Talbot, a wheel holder is disclosed that is secured onto the seatpost of a bicycle and includes an extension leg with spaced fingers extending therefrom. The fingers have slots formed in their distal ends and the slots are adapted to receive the axle of the bicycle's front wheel. The holder requires the use of a clamping mechanism to secure it to the seatpost. While Talbot clamping mechanism may be effective in attaching the holder to the bicycle's seatpost, it requires several interconnected moving parts that increase the total cost to produce the holder, especially when compared to a holder with an attachment mechanism that does not include interconnected moving parts. Further, since the fingers of the Talbot holder are shorter than the radius of the front wheel, the extension leg of the holder must be passed through the spokes of the intended bicycle wheel so that the spaced slots can be aligned with the ends of the wheel's axles. As can be appreciated, passing the extension arm through the spokes with the slotted fingers that extend perpendicularly therefrom can be awkward especially when the associated front wheel includes closely spaced spokes. Finally, the design of the Talbot holder requires the device to extend in a direction generally perpendicular to the bicycle. Given this configuration, the wheel and the end of the extension arm could interfere with the mounting of additional bicycles onto an associated rooftop carrier, especially when more than two bicycles are to be transported by a single carrier.
Wheel bags for enclosing and carrying a bicycle wheel are well known in the art. Typically, these bags are used to store a bicycle wheel in a vehicle while the bicycle is being transported either by an automobile or by way of commercial transportation such as an airplane, bus or train. By enclosing the wheel in a bag, the surfaces of the vehicle are protected from any dirt, grease and grime that may be on the wheel. When transporting a bicycle on a rooftop carrier, a person using a prior art wheel bag typically places the bag in the automobile, whether on an unused seat or in a cargo area of the vehicle, such as a trunk. As can be appreciated, placing the wheel bag in the vehicle takes up cargo space, especially if more than one wheel bag must be placed in the vehicle and more than one person and bicycle are being transported.